Just caught up with comments and can’t really add much to what has already been said.

No, it shouldn’t have been a corner but it was given and nowt can be done about it now.

Joselu, why? Is it me or does he look like a younger Rafa, that might be a possible reason for him get in ahead of proper St. so often. I reckon there are a few people taking the p!ss in the MOM voting

And I am now feeling a little guilty of my criticism of Diame but whatever Rafa is feeding him, I want some.

Or alternatively I hope his twin stays with us and continues as he is doing.

Along with many others I was puzzled at the dropping of Shelvey and to add to that obvious mistake he didn’t even get on as a sub.

I didn’t expect Kenedy to start but if he can maintain the same level of performance he could really be our saviour.

I hoped before the match that Rafa would start with Murphy and Kenedy on the wings with Atsu and Perez alternating between positions 9 & 10. And Diame and Shelvey in midfield with Shelvey pinging the balls forward.

But no. Rafa played that donkey Joselu. He has no pace, no trickery, no physical presence and no natural goal scoring instincts.

He played Atsu on the right which isn’t his most effective position, and it showed. Previously Atsu and Perez linked up well together and both have pace and trickery to cause defenders problems.

He played Merino who reminds me of Scot Parker and his endless pirouetting in midfield and getting caught out more often than not in possession. He rarely looks up, unlike Shelvey whose first instinct is to play the ball forward.. .

I thought Kenedy had a very good debut.

Diame was my MOTM. He has been consistently good in previous games. He used his physic to good effect to bully their midfield. He went on runs with the ball. He sprayed the ball around, okay some a bit way wood. He showed energy and commitment.

Munster of course fans can criticise, but catchy is obvious in his hatred of Rafa, he has basically just written the 3 new signing off to failure on his last post, its basically we will get relegated and I will be proved right Rafa should be sacked, he is not criticise he is campaigning on here for Rafa’s sacking

Interesting that Diame got so much of the vote. I wonder if he’d still get as much if people knew it was him that was supposed to be marking Vokes on corners yesterday. The 7 votes Atsu got must be a wind up as he was awful – Him and Joselu must’ve been arguing as to who was worse!!!

When will people acknowledge that we have the youngest squad in the PL and that Rafa was directly talking about Joselu when he said he signed the players he had to. Since when did everyone become ITK on what has happened between closed doors with Rafa and Mitro. Jaap Staam was one of the best defenders in the world at the time, he was out of line and Fergie got rid, does that put Fergie in the same bracket as Pardew.

I firmly believe that no manager, no player, is beyond criticism. Rafa deserves his share. It comes with the territory as a professional manager and coach. And that is what the blog is for.

Now as to your post, if you want Rafa gone, just say so. It’s your opinion. You present a case, but don’t clearly say what you want in the end. Part of me thinks you just want people to acknowledge that Rafa isn’t perfect and another part of me thinks you just hate Rafa and want him sacked.

As for blind faith and all this stuff about being in love with Rafa and no one having a balanced view – I think you are the one who’s blind to people who in fact have balanced views and will criticize him. There are plenty on the blog. You just seem to pretend they don’t exist. It is you vs. the clappers as you call them. No one else exists – unless they agree with you.

To me it’s not a zero sum game. I think most just recognize that Rafa is the best we can have at the moment. I question many of his decisions – especially the persistence with Joselu over Mitro, late subs, etc. But we are yet to see how the latest additions to the squad will do. Kenedy may be a game changer for us and is of a class we don’t have in the attacking set of players. We’ll see what Slimani can do – hopefully this sunday, and that will be the last we see of Joselu. As for the keeper, Darlow and Elliott just don’t inspire confidence and hopefully Dubravka, with his Champs and Europa League, and International experience will be a wall for us and anchor the defense.

Catchy like all of us is entitled to his opinion. I’m self confessed 97% happy clapper club member. Rafa does not walk on water. He is fallible. He is working with what he has got. We have no chance of top 10 with the squad as it is. I am expecting us to end the season roughly where we are now. ( and still hoping no TW spend means Sale is still on in some form). I still think Rafa is doing a job for the club.

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health update

My latest bone scans and CAT scans were completed this week and I met with my oncologist Dr. Dhruva to go over the results.

The stage four cancer remains stabilized and hasn't spread over the last six months.

I was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer in early 2017 after being in remission for six years.

There is no cure for stage 4 cancer - but there are treatments which attempt to prolong life.

I am upbeat with the results and remain in awe of the doctors and nurses at the Rex Cancer Center here in Raleigh, North Carolina

It's truly humbling to see how inspiring they are with their patients.

Ed Harrison

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